simple decluttering part one: how to declutter your home

A simpler, cleaner, minimalistic home… It’s a thing of beauty! How to declutter your home, where to begin? It doesn’t really matter where you start, as long as you start. Don’t procrastinate. A decluttered home will be less stressful and simpler to maintain. It will also reward you by providing you with a calm, peaceful environment to relax and enjoy.

1. Set Aside Time

First, make the time. When decluttering your home, you must set aside sufficient amount of time to accomplish your goal. The beauty of a simple, methodical decluttering is that you decide the time and the scope of your work. The main point here is to allow yourself to declutter a selected area from start to finish in a single session.

2. Create Three Categories

Create three separate categories where everything will be placed. First category – The important things that you will keep. Second category – The items that you do not need, but that may be of value to someone else. These you will sell or give away.

Third category – This is for the items that are of no value to you or anyone else, things that will be recycled or thrown away. Everything that goes through your hands must be placed into one of these categories without an exception.

3. One Thing At a Time

This is critical for successful decluttering. You must pick an area that you will start with, and focus on just that one area. Don’t jump around from one area to another before it’s done. Don’t go from clearing up your desk to the closet, to the file cabinet, then back to the desk.

Concentrate on a single area until it’s complete. You may want to start at your desk and work your way clockwise around the room. Or, you may choose to start in a garage and work your way up to the furthest bedroom. Move in a logical, predetermined direction.

4. One Drawer At a Time

When handling file cabinets or a chests of drawers, begin by pulling out one drawer at a time, and if possible, dumping all of the content out on to the floor or the bed. Next, proceed by taking each item, each piece of paper and determining in which of the three categories it belongs.

Repeat this process with every item. Do this until there is nothing left in front of you. Proceed to the next drawer. You get the idea. The same goes for each shelf, box, file, container. Similarly, do the same in each room and closet in the house. Don’t move on to another room until you are completely done.

5. Leave the Surfaces Clean

Work at maintaining empty surfaces throughout the house. It’s a good idea to clear all surfaces of knick knacks and other loose items. Clear the tabletops, counters, night stands, etc. You can not imagine the liberating feeling you will have once all of the surfaces around you are empty. This is great tip for maintaining a simpler home, as well as keeping you internally balanced.

In Conclusion

I have one more important point to make to you. The reason that your home may need decluttering is related to the amount of new stuff that you’re bringing into it. If you are in the habit of impulsive shopping on line, or can not pass up a garage sale, you will end up constantly circulating stuff in and out of your house.

If this is you, I strongly recommend, that you re-examine your motivations for spending and making new purchases. Examine your life to determine if you have emotional reasons for surrounding yourself with more and more stuff. You may be looking for security, but substituting it with material possessions.

Keep in mind however, that possessions will never permanently satisfy you. You may experience a temporary “fix” which will soon be replaced with the never ending desires for that next thing you think will make you complete.

The lasting peace and satisfaction, can only come from understanding yourself. It can only be found in the permanent disciplines of spirituality. The emptiness can only be filled by the experience of lasting peace and divine love. Practicing to curb your desire for “more”, will benefit you emotionally as well as financially.